Girl Meets Life or Death
by diceyAscension
Summary: Riley and Maya are seriously injured in an accident while riding on the subway. This leaves Cory, along with Topanga, worried sick for they've got no idea whether they're going to be okay or not. Rated T for severe character trauma and mentions of blood and severe trauma. Written in the first person point of view of various characters.
1. Chapter 1

**Riley's POV:**

I was lying in my bed, slowly but surely waking up. Mom must have yelled for me to wake up at least six times by now. At this point, I knew she was being serious so I managed to tiredly lift my back up off the bed. I stretched my arms up and yawned before turning around so that my feet were dangling off the bed. Soon enough, I touched my feet to the ground and stood up. I slowly walked on over to my closet and opened it, looking at a variety of dresses, along with several outer outfits. Consciously, I chose one of my most favorite dresses in the whole wide world and got it off of the hanger. Then I went over to my dresser and picked out the rest of my clothes. After doing that, I went into the bathroom and started to get changed into my outfit.

"Riley, honey! Are you up? Breakfast's ready!" Mom yelled for me while I was still getting myself dressed for another day of school.

"Yeah, mom! I'm getting dressed, be down in a minute!" I yelled somewhat loudly so that she'd be able to hear me. I then got myself the rest of the way dressed and made my venture down the stairs. After I got down the flight of stairs, I looked to the dining room table to see mom, daddy, and Auggie all sitting there. They seemed to already been eating breakfast. I then greeted all of them with a wide smile. "Hi guys!"

Auggie was the first to respond. He was so adorable with his innocent little smile. "Hi Riley! How are you today?"

I giggled a little at his enthusiasm. I then kneeled down to his level so it'd be easier to talk to him. "I'm doing great, Auggie. How are you?" I simply asked the kid in response. I had a smile on my face for the entire time.

"I'm good." He giggled, looking up at me as if I was the most important person in the whole world. And, to him, I guess I was. Well, besides Mom and Dad, of course. He'd always been real close to them, in all of his five years of living.

I then noticed Mom turning her head towards me. She opened her mouth almost immediately after my encounter with Auggie. "Morning, Riley! Oatmeal's out on the stove."

I nodded my head and shouted quickly. "Thanks Mom!" I then headed towards the kitchen and grabbed a bowl out of the cabinet. After that, I went over to the stove and looked at the pot of oatmeal. It was still piping hot! I carefully grabbed the large spoon which was inside of the pot and scooped up a spoonful of the oatmeal. I got about another spoonful or two of oatmeal before returning to the table. Everything was basically quiet there for awhile besides the sound of everyone eating or Mom and Dad sipping away at their coffee. I, however, was just silently eating my oatmeal. It seemed like it was just way too early for me to be able to function properly today. I mean, usually I'm all awake and alert, but today, not so much. But whatever, I guess I just didn't get enough sleep last night.

"You okay there, Riley?" Daddy asked me in a gentle voice. I came to noticed that there was a concerned look on his face. He must've really noticed I wasn't as chipper as my usual self.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little tired is all." I smiled gently and continued to eat my breakfast. I'd gotten to the bottom of the bowl within five to ten minutes. By the time I had finished, I happened to hear a familiar buzzing sound.

"Maya." My best friend, Maya simply stated over the intercom. I heard her let out a quiet yawn before I gave her a spoken response.

"Just a sec!" I shouted with great excitement as I ran over to the door. I then pressed the buzzer which would open the door right away. "Okay, it's open!"

With that, Maya came right into our apartment. Together, the two of us walked right over to the breakfast table. We then sat right down beside each other.

Mom looked towards her and decided to talk. "Maya, oatmeal's out in the kitchen. Go get yourself some."

"No thank you, Mrs. Matthews." Silly Maya. She obviously must have thought that she was just offering some to her. But that wasn't the case. Mom had always been somewhat strict about Maya, or anyone else for that matter, coming over before leaving for school.

"I wasn't offering." Mom said rather bluntly. "Seriously, go get yourself some."

"Okay.." Maya said with a sigh. It was clear she didn't even want any to begin with. But mom, she didn't care. She wanted us to have a good, healthy breakfast before we went to school. Mom figured that neither of us actually ate the disgusting cafeteria food half of the time. Well, Maya actually ate the food but that's enough blabbering out of me. Maya went over to the stove and got herself some oatmeal before returning to the seat next to me. She ate the contents of her bowl slowly and I, being the great friend that I am, just waited patiently for her to finish.

After finishing her breakfast, I happened to look at the clock to notice it was 6:57 AM.

"Guess we should go, huh?" I asked her politely, pointing at the clock.

"Wow, it's that time already?" Her eyes turned wide whenever noticing the time. She then turned to me and nodded. "Yup, let's go."

With that, we both got up from our seats and started to head for the front door. But not without looking over to my family. "Bye!" I said as I waved goodbye to both mom and dad and Maya and I exited the apartment. We walked out to the street and noticed it was raining. "Great…" I rolled my eyes with sarcasm. I was practically drenched by the pouring rain. It really was a shame that we didn't bring an umbrella with us cuz I was absolutely freezing! But yeah, we walked for what seemed like an hour, but in all reality, it was probably no more than thirty minutes. After those long minutes of walking in the pouring rain, Maya and I finally got to the subway station.

We showed the workers our passes and they let us through to get on the subway. We had to wait and wait for about ten to fifteen minutes until everyone who was going on the subway was boarded.

"Alright, if everybody's on board, we're going to depart to our first stop." I heard a man announce over the subway's intercom.

So within a minute or two, I felt the subway start to move. But, something about the subway just seemed a bit off. It was making some weird sounds which were really starting to freak me out.

"M-Maya..?" I gulped nervous and clung onto her arm due to fear.

"What is it, Riles?" She asked, having noticed the fear in my eyes.

"The..The subway..it's not supposed to make these kind of noises, right?" I asked, my words getting kind of stuttery every now and again.

"Eh, I'm sure it's nothing. Don't worry about it, alright?" She said in a soothing voice, as if she were trying to calm me down.

It just wasn't working though. I was still freaking out very much, inside and out. I decided I would just stay sitting there nervously. But then I saw a flame ignite from afar. I knew it wasn't just 'nothing' now. "M-MAYA!" I instantly screeched, pointing a finger at the ever-so-quickly spreading fire.

Her eyes instantly widened with fear, which was really strange considering that she was normally really brave. "R-Riley, we need to get outta here-" Maya spoke in a strict voice whenever a loud fiery explosion cut her off.

I made an attempt to hold onto her but I didn't have much luck. The force of the explosion sent me flying through a nearby window. I felt glass shards pierce my skin, along with a horrible burning sensation that took over my entire body. I came to a realization: My entire body caught on fire. This was probably the least of my problems if I was to be totally honest because soon the subway tumbled over, crushing every bone in my entire body. My world faded into darkness as the last bit of my consciousness had slipped away.


	2. Chapter 2

**Maya's POV:**

Within just a few moments, my world had gone from just the usual to just..a disaster. I told my best friend, Riley Matthews, that everything would be just fine. I told her that the sounds we both had been hearing were nothing. Then all of this happened and she could be dead for all I know! I...I should've listened to her. I should've protected my poor little plant. Well, I..I guess it's too late now. I took a look around at all of my surroundings. Most of what I could see was people just suffering. A good few of them were even unresponsive! I didn't know what exactly to do so I got up on my own two feet and attempted to find Riley. But that was a mistake. It hurt to stand up more than any pain I'd ever experienced in my twelve years of life. I decided to just get down on my knees and crawl to a nearby exit. It didn't matter if it burned me. I just needed to find her. I bashed a window open and climbed right out of it. I felt a huge stinging sensation as shards of glass made their way into my skin. "O-Ow.." I managed to whimper. It really was getting hard to breathe. I continued to crawl until I found a body that was trapped under the subway. The entire body of the victim was crushed underneath of the subway except for the head. I noticed that she was on fire so I had to aggressively blow air on her to get the flames to go out the best I could. She had severe scrapes and burns to her face and long curled brown hair. It was definitely was my best friend though. She didn't seem to have any life in her so I decided to give her a soft nudge. "R-Riles..?" She didn't give any sort of response. I began to get very worried. I didn't want to lose her. I..I just couldn't lose her. It'd be all my fault. I nudged her again in hopes of getting a response. But yet again, no response. "R-Riley Matthews. Wake up. Now." I said with strictness in my voice. But in all honesty, I was beginning to break down. I just couldn't take seeing her like this. I couldn't take thinking of the possibility that she was dead so I just began to sob. I sobbed and sobbed but it just made no difference. Riley seemed to be dying and it was all my fault. After calming myself down just a bit, I discovered that my phone was still in my pocket. I pulled it out, noticing it remained undamaged. I then called the number '911'. The phone rang for about thirty seconds before I got a response.

"911, what's your emergency?" The lady who picked up the phone asked me in a gentle voice.

"T-The..subway.." I managed to choke out after slight hesitation. "T-There was an accident. I-I-I dunno if anyone else besides me is alive. I'm s-scared." I cried weakly.

"Shh.. It's okay, honey. Calm down." The lady spoke in a soothing voice. However, it wasn't soothing to me in the slightest bit. "Just, can you tell me how bad it is?"

"I-I..I dunno. It...caught on fire and exploded. I-I see...blood everywhere. My best friend..she's not answering me. I-Is she dead?!" I said at an incredibly fast pace.

"I dunno, hon." The lady sighed, noticing how I was still in such distress. "Is she breathing at all..?"

"H-H-Hold on.." I whimpered, crawling back over to Riley. I put my ear up to her mouth but didn't hear any breathing. This just broke my heart and I tried my very best to hold back sobs. But despite my best efforts, I just failed. I kneeled over her body and just cried. I couldn't even make myself get back to talk on my phone.

"Ma'am..?" I could hear the voice on the phone through my sobs.

"P-P-Please.. Just send over h-help! I can't lose her!" I yelled at the phone although I continued crying. I then aggressively pushed the 'end call' button.

"Riles.. Don't leave me." I whimpered quietly, looking straight down at her. I wanted to just hold her hand but, unfortunately, both of them were crushed underneath of the subway. I resorted to gently caressing the singed hair on her head as I waited for help to come our way.

**Cory's POV:**

I hung around in my classroom, waiting for the first period students to come barging in. I happened to like this class the best. They were usually the most well-behaved class of the year. Also, Riley and Maya were in this class, which made it even better. I decided that I'd teach the class yet another valuable life lesson while incorporating some great history along with it. I shuffled through some papers I was gonna hand back to the class today. I just wanted to be sure I didn't miss anything while grading them. It seemed like I didn't really miss a thing so I just sat back behind my desk and decided to just take it easy until the kids were to come in. It was only about fifteen short minutes until the first student finally arrived.

As usual, it was Farkle Minkus who was the first to arrive. He greeted me with a toothy grin. Man, I loved that kid. "Hey, Mr. Matthews!" He shouted with joy and I just couldn't help but chuckle.

"Hey Farkle! How ya doin' today?" I asked with enthusiasm.

"I'm doing great! Thanks for asking, sir!" He continued to grin at me. He then looked around before deciding to ask me a question. "Say, have you seen Riley or Maya? I was wanting to talk to them!"

I shook my head to tell him no. "Nope! They should be here soon though." But, boy, was I wrong. They wouldn't be coming soon. As a matter of fact, they wouldn't be coming to school at all. But, I had no idea of the events that were to come that day.

But anyways, I waited just a few more minutes for the rest of the class to come. I took attendance once the bell rang. Basically everyone was present except for Riley and Maya. I just shrugged it off, thinking they were just running a little bit late. "Alright guys, today we're going to be learning about 9/11. You all heard about it, right?" I smiled nervously. Knowing these guys, they probably didn't hear too much about it. "Farkle? Anybody?" I immediately asked the class. Nobody seemed to be wanting to answer so I had no other choice than to explain it to them. "Alright, 9/11. It was one of the nation's biggest disasters ever! It was a terrorist attack like none other and America's been eternally changed because of it." I gave a pretty thorough explanation of the attack for the next ten to fifteen minutes. "Okay, now everyone take out your book and turn to page one-hundred-and-three. I want you to read to page one-hundred-and-" I was then cut off by the sound of my cell phone ringing. "One-hundred-and-fifteen. Read to there while I take this call." I heard the entire class let out a collective sigh and I just laughed.

Afterwards, I walked over to one of the supply closets where I was currently storing my phone. I looked to see who was calling and noticed it was Maya. I was just completely confused at the moment on why she was calling me but yet not in my class. I picked up the phone and closed the closet before going into the hallway to talk. I put the phone up to my ear and immediately heard soft sobbing coming from the other end. "Maya? You okay, honey? Where are you guys?" I was really worried. I hadn't heard Maya, of all people, crying in years!

"N-No.." I heard her holding back sobs as she muttered those words to me. "W-We're...hurt."

My heart just dropped in an instant. As a father, you never wanted to hear that your daughter or her best friend were hurt. "O-Oh my God.. How hurt?"

"R-Riley...She's not...s-she's not..breathing!" Maya yelled between her sobs.

My heart was now shattered. The two most important girls in my life were hurt..badly. "Okay, honey." I said, trying to stay strong. "Did ya call for an ambulance?"

"Y-Y-Yeah.. I just did before calling y-you." Maya was still crying as she replied to me.

"I'm gonna try and get ahold of Topanga. You just hang in there and maybe see if you can get Riley breathing, okay?" I replied way too calmly. I should've sounded way more worried but I just...couldn't. I didn't want to end up crying while talking to her.

"I-I don't know how.." Maya told me in a heartbreaking tone.

I sighed before giving a simple response. "That's okay, honey. I'm gonna go now. See ya soon. Hopefully."

I then hung up the phone and returned to the classroom. "Okay guys. I gotta make another phone call or two. There's...a family emergency." I took a quick but hesitant pause. "Both Riley and Maya were in an accident."

A couple of the kids' eyes almost immediately widened. But the majority of them just shrugged it off. But then my daughter's painstakingly obvious crush, whom I often referred to as 'Mr. Friar, raised his hand. I let out a sigh before answering him. 'Yes, Mr. Friar?"

"Are Riley and Maya going to be okay, sir?" He asked after putting his hand down onto his desk. I guess I must've forgotten to tell the class all of the details of the accident. Well, all of the details I actually knew, at least.

"I..I dunno." I said in as firm of a voice as I could, considering the circumstances. The emotional pain I was feeling probably had quite the effect on my voice.

I guess the young man really had no idea how to respond so he just sighed and continued to read from his history book.

"Well, guys. I gotta go make some more phone calls. After you're done reading what I told ya to, just do whatever. Please be well-behaved while I'm outta the room, okay?" I figured they'd end up not even listening to a single word I said. But that didn't really matter. What mattered was that I called Topanga to let her know what'd happened. So I left the room and took out my cell phone once more.


	3. Chapter 3

**Lucas's POV:**

I'd just gotten out of first period, which was history class to be exact. Mr. Matthews just told us some very unfortunate news about twenty-five to thirty minutes prior to its' ending. It was upsetting to all of us. Especially for Farkle and I considering we were both great friends with Riley and Maya.

As a matter of fact, I was even considering ditching school for the rest of the day to go and see how they were doing. Well, if they would've even let me in to see either of them. You never really know what kinds of crazy rules hospitals would have for kids my age when it comes to visitation. But yeah, I still really wanted to give it a go. I knew of Riley's massive crush on me and all but perhaps I had the exact same feelings towards her. I never wanted anything this bad to happen to her. I really did care for both her and Maya, you know. Anyways, I shuffled around in the busy halls for about a minute or so. I looked around desperately for any sign of Farkle. I really needed to talk with him real quick. After lurking around during those few moments, I finally spotted the little guy from quite a distance. I was honestly surprised at how fast he could move. He wasn't exactly the athletic type.

"Farkle!" I yelled from across the hall. I needed to be sure he could hear me.

I soon saw him turn to face me. He made his way over to me in a matter of seconds. "Yes, Lucas?" He asked me in his usual chipper voice. "Hurry it up, I gotta get to class!" His kind demeanor soon turned to impatience within five measly seconds.

"Alright, alright." I let out a brief sigh out of frustration. "I'm sorry, buddy. I was just thinking about something."

"Mhm, and..?" Farkle asked me, tapping his foot on the ground as if to tell me he was still waiting.

"Never mind.. It's….a stupid idea." I admitted sheepishly. I figured that Farkle...well, being Farkle would never go for the idea of skipping class.

"Try me! I'm sure it's not a half bad idea!" He shouted with such great enthusiasm. He was actually intrigued by what I had to say.

"Well, I...thought...that maybe..we could ditch class..? For Riley and Maya..?" I finally said it. I might've sounded incredibly stupid but I said it.

"Yeah, you're right, Lucas. That really was a stupid idea. I do love and worry for my two favorite ladies and all but...I dunno. I've never skipped a class in my entire life."

"Should've figured that." I mumbled to myself. It definitely was a long shot. "Although, I think I'm gonna go on without you. I don't want to /not/ be around if something, y'know, happens. I mean, we never know how bad either of them were hurt. Besides, I'm sure Mr. and Mrs. Matthews would enjoy my support." I had told him at a normal pace. But then, right in the middle of my small speech, the bell for the next class had rung. I just shrugged it off. It's not like it mattered anyways since I wasn't going. But for Farkle, that was a different question. As far as I'd known, he was never tardy for a class either. I'm a'guessing this broke his perfect attendance.

"Greaaat. Thanks a lot, Lucas." He rolled his eyes with sarcasm. "Guess I've got no other choice than to go with you now 'cause I am not going into class tardy!" He paused for just a moment before coming to his senses. "...And I guess you're right too..I'd feel so guilty if I didn't end up coming to see them before it was too late."

"Well, let's just get going before we end up getting caught, alright?" I asked him politely. The halls were now completely abandoned which would just give us an even bigger risk of being caught if any of the teachers were to hear us lurking about. "We've gotta be extra quiet."

"Gotcha." Farkle whispered to me while holding both of his thumbs up. I was so relieved that he was already listening to my commands.

Within a couple of minutes, we made it out of the school safe and out of trouble for now. We walked onto the sidewalk and everything just seemed so peaceful. Except for one thing; I could hear the faint sound of sirens in the distance. It was quite obvious what the sirens were for. They were for the accident that'd just occurred earlier this morning. I frowned, knowing that it was more than likely a very bad accident.

Along the treacherous journey to our local hospital, Farkle and I both tried our hardest to rustle up at least a little bit of small talk but we had no luck in that, really. It just remained pretty awkward for the entire walk that probably lasted about thirty to forty minutes. But at least it was worth it in the long run.

Once we arrived to the hospital, we walked inside and headed directly to the receptionist's desk. There was a woman there who looked to be in her thirties who looked at us as we approached her desk.

"How may I help you?" She asked in a nice, yet cringe-worthy voice. It was so obvious that she was faking the kindness.

"Yes, we heard there was an accident on the subway earlier this morning." I began, seeing that Farkle wasn't going to speak to her. "Our two friends were on the subway at the time. I was wondering if they'd been sent here or not..?"

"Alright, can you tell me their first and last names?" She asked me in response to what I had to say.

"Yeah. Their names are Riley Matthews and Maya Hart. Hart is spelled H-a-r-t." I figured I'd inform her on how to spell Maya's last name. I didn't even bother to spell out 'Matthews' due to the fact that it was painstakingly obvious.

"Okay, thanks." The receptionist smiled and looked up their names on her computer. She looked through it for just about a minute or so before speaking up once more. "Alright, yeah, neither of these names are listed here in the computer. They must not have gotten here yet. Just go to the waiting room and come back in like an hour or so. They should definitely be here by then."

"Ah.." I nodded my headed. "I appreciate it, ma'am." I then turned my head towards Farkle in a heartbeat. "Let's go to the waiting room, then. Okay, Farkle?"

"Yeah, okay." He simply stated. We then went into the nearby waiting room and just began to wait.

**Topanga's POV:**

I'd been hard at work at the local courthouse. It had been a rather slow day, however. There wasn't all that much left for me to work on for my current case. I had almost all the loose ends tied and everything was looking okay for the man in which I was helping. But that's when I got a call. I reluctantly picked up my cell phone, knowing it could either get me in tons of trouble with my boss or I could've gotten let go. I looked at the caller ID to see that it was my husband, Cory. I pressed the button which had a picture of a green telephone on it and put the phone up to my ear. 'What is it, Cory?" I asked in a quiet but slightly annoyed voice. He knew that I was busy at work and that he should've been too. "I'm at work, ya know."

'Yeah." He had said with a depressed sigh. "I know, honey but...something happened." He continued the conversation with a sound of regret in his voice.

I immediately gasped in horror. I happened to know that it could mean so many different things. I mean, a lot of things have happened in the past, after all. "What happened..? Is everything alright?" I asked him, not really having any prior knowledge of the whole situation. I really wish I did, although, 'cause things were certainly about to change. And not for the better either. Nope, things were definitely gonna get worse quicker than I knew.

"No, everything's not alright." Cory told me in a sad-sounding voice. "There was….an accident."

My heart had dropped in an instant. I wasn't quite sure of the circumstances but that's beside the point. "W-What do you mean, honey?" I gulped nervously. My voice was still rather quiet, in an attempt to keep my boss from noticing.

"Apparently there was an accident on the subway. I dunno how bad it is, I just got a call from Maya not too long ago. I figured I should probably call you and let you know." I figured that he'd more than likely shrugged while saying that statement, but you never know.

"Yeah.." I said in an obvious voice. "That was a good choice, Cor. But you said you heard from Maya?"

"Yup.." He sighed once more. I was kind of saddened by the way he said that. It just made me more and more worried by the second.

"Are she and Riley okay?" I asked with great worry. I didn't want either of my girls to suffer.

"Well, I guess Maya's okay.." He then paused with hesitation. "Riley, not so much.."

My eyes instantly widened. I began to wonder in my mind what he'd meant by that last little bit. "W-What do you mean by 'Riley, not so much'?" I imitated his voice slightly. But not as to mock him, only to simply ask him the question.

"S-She's….She's not breathing, Topanga." He muttered quietly, which was very unusual for him. I could hear his voice shaking as he delivered the heartbreaking news. "T-That's basically all I know. I...I'm gonna try getting out of work as soon as possible so I can be with them."

"Yeah. Same here. We can't just let them suffer through all of this alone." I said quite sadly. Tears were beginning to drip from my eyes. It was just too heartbreaking to hear what had happened to the two girls whom which I loved and cared about, along with everybody else who was hurt in the accident, of course. "I'm going to let you go, okay honey..?" I asked him so that I wouldn't break down while talking to him.

"Mhm." He muttered quietly. "That's alright. Love ya, honey. Bye." I was glad he was understanding and that he would let me go.

"L-Love you too.." I began to stutter. Although it was quite unlike me to do so, I just couldn't make myself stop. "Bye.." I then hung up my phone before putting it back into my purse.

I rose up from the seat of my desk and began to look for my boss. I really did dislike the man but at least he was grateful enough to give me the job in the first place. I looked around for a good while before accidentally bumping right into him. "Sorry sir.." I muttered just loud enough for him to hear me.

His face grew red with anger as he faced me. I knew this wouldn't be turning out as well as I had hoped. "Topanga Lawrence, what do you think you're doing?! Your break isn't for another three hours! Get back to work now!"

I sighed somewhat sadly and looked straight into the man's eyes. "I need to have the rest of the day off. There's a family emergency." I stated as calmly as I possibly could at that point. He was really working up my nerve.

"Family emergency?" He asked in a mocking tone of voice. "What, did your goldfish die?"

I growled right underneath my breath. he didn't even give me a chance to explain what had happened. "No! That's not even close to what happened!" I just up and snapped whenever I had the chance. I wasn't about to take anymore of this crap. "It's my daughter. She was in a bad accident!"

"Mhm, so? You can go after your shift is over. You're very important to our current case." The man strictly demanded for whatever reason. He and all the others could've just continued working on the case. There's plenty of lawyers to pick from.

"Am I now?" I asked very bluntly. "Well, that's just too bad. I am going to go see that my daughter and her friend are going to be okay. There's nothing you can do to stop me 'cause I quit." I told my now former-boss very straight forward. Then I exited the courthouse with my pride and dignity still somewhat intact and went to my car.


	4. Chapter 4

**Maya's POV:**

It had felt like it'd been at least half an hour since I called 911 whenever people had finally come to our rescue. I'd seen at least twenty men and women come rushing in. Some were in protective clothing and had all kinds of equipment that was to help put out the fire that was still managing to spread throughout the entire building. Others, however, came rushing in with stretchers and all sorts of medical equipment. One approached me and began to ask me questions. Questions like 'Are you okay?' or 'Do you have idea how this happened?'. I, for one, wasn't even ready to answer these questions for all my focus was still on Riley. I needed to know that she was going to be alright. It didn't matter how much I was actually hurting at the moment. I knew that my best friend was much worse off than me. I knew that I could've at least tried to prevent her from getting this badly hurt. But I didn't. I just completely ignored her at the time that the subway was making those weird sounds. I had ignored her up until the point where everything went up into flames. But, boy, did I regret all that now. I looked up to the person who was currently talking to me and nodded quickly. "Y-Yeah. I'm alright." I straight up lied to their face. I certainly was not alright. I didn't feel alright in the slightest sense. As a matter of fact, I just felt horrible. As if I was about to have an emotional breakdown, actually. "But please. M-My best friend..She needs all the help she can get. Just forget me and help her, okay?" I whimpered quietly. I probably sounded like I was really freaking pathetic but I didn't really care.

"But, ma'am, it looks like you've got quite a few nasty cuts and burns. They're gonna need treated as soon as possible so we don't risk an infection." The person, a man actually, told me in a calm, yet firm voice.

"I don't care!" I snapped in an instant. I was really quite irritable to be completely honest. "My best friend is over there not breathing and you care about a couple of cuts and burns?! Go take care of her now!" By this point, I'm pretty sure I was in tears. But I had to remain strong, for Riley and her family who'd probably all known about the incident at this point.

"Alright, fair enough." The man sighed and walked over to the subway, which was just a few feet away. He was probably pretty upset that me, a twelve year old girl, was demanding him like that. But, it's whatever. It just had to be done.

"I need some help over here!" The man yelled. His loud voice made me jump slightly, making me wince in pain as my injured leg had moved during the scare. Then, as if on cue, a few buff men and women came running over to the subway and they lifted it up just high enough to move Riley out from underneath it.

I looked over at her whenever she'd been untrapped and saw blood seeping through her very torn up and burnt dress. I screamed whenever noticing the horrific sight. I never saw that much blood in my entire life! I was just hoping that this would just all go away. That this was all just some crazy screwed up dream. I hoped that I would wake up and go over to Riley's house to find her safe and sound. But this, this was reality. I was hyperventilating and just in tears. "R-R-Riles?!" I managed to choke out. I crawled over to her as quick as humanly possible. But in the process, I was made to go away. That didn't happen, however, without me putting up quite the fight. I tried getting over to her for a good five minutes before eventually giving up. People then carried me away to an ambulance so they could assess my injuries or whatever. I looked over the person's shoulder as they carried me away. I could see the other paramedics trying their very best to revive Riley but it just didn't seem like it was working out. It looked to me as if she had just given up. Her body looked just way too weak to even be able to regain any of it's ability to function properly. I wiped just a few tears from my eyes and muttered quietly before being carried out of the subway station. "I-I'm so sorry Riles."


	5. Chapter 5

Topanga's POV:

I was still very frustrated with my former boss. I just couldn't believe he acted like that!...Okay, well, I did. He never gave me all that many days off in the several years I'd worked for him. After storming out of the courthouse and into the car, I decided to give myself a minute or two before starting to drive. It probably wasn't such a good idea to drive whenever I felt like that, anyways. I turned on the car and drove onto the freeway. I swerved around several cars on the way to the scene. Luckily, I wasn't in an accident or pulled over by a single police officer. I was ever so thankful for that.

I soon made it over to the intersection which would lead me to the subway station. I would finally be able to see how bad the whole accident was. I drove through the intersection and, boy, was I surprised at what I'd seen in the distance. There were emergency vehicles….everywhere. Some were fire engines but for the most part, the whole surrounding area was filled with ambulances and police cars. I was going to drive through to see everything up closer but I was ultimately stopped by a man in a police uniform. He walked up to the window on the driver's side of the car. I rolled down my window since I figured that the man had wanted to speak with me.

"You can't come any further, ma'am. I'm afraid it's just far too dangerous." He stated in a strict voice.

"B-But, my daughter a-a-and her friend..they're in there!" I sighed deeply. I was really starting to stress out to be totally honest. I just had to know if they were alright.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. Could you gimme their names and ages? This way, I'll be able to give you an update on 'em sooner or later." His voice seemed seemed to lighten up, as if he actually took what I said into consideration.

"Y-Yes.." My voice began to shake quite a bit. "Their names are Riley Matthews and Maya Hart and they're both twelve years old."

"Alright, thank you, ma'am." He nodded and wrote something down in a notebook he grabbed out from his pocket. "I should be back in just a few with some updates. In the meantime, you just stay put."

"O-Okay.. T-Thank you, officer." I said, managing to crack a slight smile to show that I was thankful for him doing so.

I then saw the man walking away into the distant wreckage. Afterwards, I just sat in my car and waited for him to return. However, after just a little bit, I was beginning to lose hope. I was afraid that he would never come back and that I'd never see Riley or Maya ever again. Well, alive, at least. But then, I saw someone heading back towards me after about forty-five minutes of time. After they had come up closer to me, I came to notice that it was the police man who'd approached me just earlier that day. He came up to my window once more but I already had it rolled down.

"Alright, I've got some news for ya." He told me in a soft, gentle voice. "The paramedics located both of the girls."

I instantly lit up with joy. I just felt so relieved that both Riley and Maya were found, hopefully in okay condition. "R-Really?!" I asked with great excitement. I was probably grinning widely at this point but I couldn't really tell.

"Yes, ma'am." The man nodded quickly. "Ms. Hart's already on her way to the hospital. Is she your daughter or..?"

"No." I shook my head in an instant. I know she was practically a daughter to me, but for this situation I had to say no since she was not my biological daughter. "My last name is Matthews. Riley is my daughter. I-Is she okay..?"

"Well, no. Not exactly." He frowned whilst looking at me. That was the moment in which my heart just shattered into like a million pieces. Riley, my one and only daughter, was 'not okay'. Whatever that meant, I was about to find out.

"W-What do you mean she's not okay?" I asked the man, looking directly into his eyes. My voice began to sound rather pathetic during that brief interaction.

"Well, you see, the paramedics had to perform CPR. But, they were able to bring her back. They don't know how long she's going to remain in stable condition, if at all."

Well, that did it. Tears began to flow down my face. I was absolutely heartbroken at the news. "S-So she could d-d-die?!" I cried and cried when speaking a response. My voice was cracking a lot during that sentence.

"Yes, it's quite possible." The police man told me sympathetically. "I'm so sorry, ma'am. But, if you wish, I can let you go over to see her. She's somewhat awake right now anyway."

"Y-Yeah, I'd like that." I said with a nod. I was actually extremely nervous to go and see her. I didn't want to see her in this horrible condition but I had to. I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if she were to die without me telling her that Cory, Auggie, and I all loved her very much. I just had to go to say my possible goodbyes.

"Very well, follow me then." The police man said before beginning to walk towards all of the chaos.

I opened up my door and walked out of the car. I didn't even bother to lock the doors since he was already so far ahead of me already. I actually had to run for about thirty seconds to catch up with him. After catching up with him, the man continued to lead me to a nearby ambulance.

"Alright, she's right inside the ambulance. You may have to wait outside a few minutes. The paramedics are continuing to work on her until she's good enough for them to head on over to the nearest hospital." The police man told me calmly and left.

I decided to sit down on the sidewalk and wait until the paramedics would allow me to come into the ambulance.


	6. Chapter 6

Riley's POV:

I had woken up for the first time since the accident on the subway. I was completely unaware of where I was or what had happened at the time but all I knew was that I was in excruciating pain. I also came to notice a weird mask over top of my face. I could hear a couple of unfamiliar voices, even through all the pain. I let out a couple of pained wails. People were touching me and it hurt bad.

"Hey, she's awake." One of the people pointed out. I couldn't really see all that well at the moment but I knew it was the voice of a man. There was a pause that consisted of about five seconds "Hey, sweetheart. Do you know where you are?" He asked me in a soothing voice.

"N-No.." I managed to cry out. The feeling in my face was overtaken by the extreme amount of pain. I could feel tears running down my face, and with each and every tear, the pain just got worse and worse.

"Well, you're in an ambulance. You were just in a really bad accident. We're gonna fix you up though. So don't worry, okay?" The same man had told me. It was clear he was now kneeling right beside my face.

"O-Okay.." I said, trying to nod my head..but, I just couldn't. It was like my neck had been immobilized or something.

"Don't strain yourself too hard. We've got your neck secured in a brace, just in case your spine's been hurt." The man continued talking to me. I could hardly pay much attention due to the constant pain I was experiencing. Also, I kind of felt like I was going in and out of consciousness.

"Mhm.." I muttered with tears continuing to run down my face. I continued to feel weaker and weaker just as seconds passed, like every last bit of energy had been constantly draining out of me.

"Alright, honey, I'm going to ask you a couple of questions. First thing's first, do you know your name?" He asked me and of course I knew my name. I wasn't completely out of it.

"I-I..I-I-I'm..Riley M-Matthews." I spoke in a very shaky voice. It was the best I could do with all the crying I'd been doing.

"Date of birth?" He asked me another question and, boy, did he sound sympathetic.

"December 8th 2001." I stated. Man, these questions were easy. But I guess they just needed to be sure the impact had no effect on my brain.

"Okay, good." He sounded pretty relieved. "Now for the last question. What year is it?"

"2014." I said with slight assurance. I mean that was the year, right?

"Okay, fantastic. Your mom's outside waiting. Want me to get her for you?" He asked me, my mood brightening up just a little bit. I couldn't believe she left work early just for me.

"Y-Yeah..Please." I managed to crack a smile, even if it did hurt like crazy.

Almost immediately after I'd finished speaking, I could hear footsteps and a door creaking open. Then within a minute or so, I heard people climbing into the ambulance.

"O-Oh my God.." I heard a familiar voice. It was my mom and she sounded quite shocked. I mean, I guess I would be too if one of my loved ones was in this position. I then heard footsteps coming towards me. "Riley baby?" She asked, her voice sounding full of sorrow.

"M-Mommy..?" I asked, trying to look at her. I rarely called her 'mommy' anymore but I just couldn't help it. I just felt so pathetic, it didn't even phase me.

"I...I'm so sorry, honey." Mom sighed. From what I could see, she was right beside me and looking down at me.

"I-It hurts.." I wailed painfully. I made an attempt to grab her hand but, in the end, I ultimately failed. I could hardly even move my arm.

"I know, I know.." I saw a frown spread across her face and it just made me feel even worse. But, nevertheless, she tried her very best to try and calm me down. She was always good at that, to say the very least. She grabbed onto my hand and squeezed it tight.

This didn't cause me any pain, as a matter of fact. It just began to ease my tears. I knew mom was there and that she loved me very much. "I-I love you.." I whimpered as loud as I possibly could. I wanted her to know that just in case I was to die today.

"I love you too, baby. We all love you." Mom said, smiling weakly. She was totally still heartbroken over what had happened to me but I hoped my words would ease the ache. Well, at least a little bit. After a few seconds of silence, I felt the vehicle begin to move. We were finally on the way to the hospital. I was finally going to receive the medical attention I really needed. Thank God.


	7. Chapter 7

Riley's POV:

We were riding to the hospital for what seemed like hours. Well, not really, I guess. But how was I to know? I kept dozing off every now and again. I guess it had to do with all the pain I was in, along with the fact that I was probably losing tons of blood. One of the last times I'd woken up was the time in which we arrived to the hospital. I was still crying in pain whenever they lifted up the stretcher I was currently strapped to. I winced in pain just a bit more whenever the people carrying me caused a jolt of pain to go rushing through my body.

"O-Ow.." I cried just loud enough for someone to be able to hear me.

Somebody turned towards me. I couldn't really see if they were a man or a woman, since my tears were blocking most of my vision. "Sorry, sweetheart.. We'll be more careful now, alright?" I could tell that it was a feminine-sounding voice.

"O-Okay.." I said, my voice sounding really pathetic. I made an attempt to nod my head but then I remembered something. My neck was in some weird brace thing and I couldn't move it. As a matter of fact, I actually couldn't move at all. I might've been strapped down or something but I just wasn't sure. Maybe I was just hurt so bad that I was actually paralyzed. Either way it goes, though, I was extremely scared. I felt people continue to carry me on the stretcher for just a couple of minutes until they reached some random room. They brought me into the room and quickly transferred me from the stretcher to either a table or a hospital bed. There were several doctors in the room. I didn't even bother to count them. I couldn't focus enough to count them, anyway.

"Hey, honey. If you didn't already know, you were in a bad accident." One of the doctors announced to me. He spoke in a nice, condescending voice. "You see all of us? We're all doctors, we're going to fix you up, okay?"

"O..Okay." I blinked. It was really hard to focus on his words. His voice was kind of causing my head to hurt badly. It wasn't really his fault but just about anything was causing me pain at this point.

"Okay, so can you tell me where it hurts?" He asked. I bet he already knew my answer.

"E-Everywhere.." I responded quietly. I mean, it really was the truth. I definitely wasn't about to lie about that.

"Oh.." I heard him let out a deep sigh. "Well, what about this. Where does it hurt the worst..?"

"I-I don't know.." I told him in a somewhat shaky voice. I tried to think of where my pain was the absolute worse but it was hard to tell.

"Well, that's okay, honey. We're just going to take a look at you real quick." He told me directly afterward. All the people in the room quickly looked me over to check for serious injuries, I guess. Out of all the people there though, there was one person I didn't happen to see; my mom. I just shrugged it off. Maybe she just got lost somewhere in the hospital. I still wanted her though. She was the only one who could bring me comfort at this point. Even though the doctors were taking care of me, they just weren't as comforting as my mom or dad..or even Maya. I completely forgot about her. I surely hoped she was okay wherever she was. Anyways, a doctor shined some bright light into both of my eyes. It really burned.

"Uh oh." The doctor muttered to himself. That was when I knew something was seriously wrong.

"W-What's wrong..?" I asked with curiosity...well, either that or fear. Or maybe even both. Tears began to flow down my face once again. I certainly didn't want to die!

"Hang on, honey." He told me calmly. "We're gonna need to get you in for a CAT scan of your head. It's quite possible you could've hurt your skull whenever you hit your head or something."

I hit my head? I didn't even know that! I thought my body was just mercilessly crushed by one of the subway cars. "W-Wait.. I..I hit my head?" I asked nervously.

"Yes, you did." The one doctor who was talking to me nodded his head. "We're not entirely sure if you damaged your skull at all but we just want to be sure."

My eyes instantly widened. What did they mean by all of this? Was I going to have to get a major brain surgery? What would happen if I was to die?! How would mom and dad react? How would they tell Auggie? "A-Am I going to die?!" I asked yet another question, my voice cracking every now and again.

"Not if we can help. We're going to be sure you make it out of here alive. Don't you worry, alright?" The doctor tried his very best to reassure me but it didn't really work. I was in quite the panic.

"O-Okay." I frowned. I knew they were more than likely lying just to keep me calm.

"Alright, we're gonna get ya right down there. We'll let your mom come down with you. We had to have her wait outside the room." I was informed by that same doctor. I guess she didn't get lost after all.

Soon enough, I felt the bed I was lying in begin to move once more. I saw the door open and mom was right there, just as I was told. I formed a gentle smile with my lips. It hurt, but oddly enough, I felt more relaxed. I guess seeing her made my nerves calm down. "M-Mom..?" I spoke rather quietly. I just felt even weaker than ever before.

"Yeah, honey?" She asked, leaning over me. I could definitely sense the concern in her voice.

"I-I..I..I'm not gonna make it, a-am I..?" I looked up at her. Tears filled my eyes for like the fifth time today. My voice cracked a repetitive amount of times, as well. I really was not convinced that I would survive this whole ordeal.

"W-Well, I sure hope that's not the case." She admitted. I could tell she was trying her best to remain calm.

But although she was trying to remain calm, I was not. All I kept thinking was that I was going to die and it just made me panic more and more. I couldn't even control my own tears. It made me feel like such a little kid. I was twelve. I didn't really think twelve year olds were supposed to cry uncontrollably just because of pain….but it was happening. I was just a weak and pathetic little crybaby. I didn't even realize we reached the room where the MRI was to take place.

But as they were rolling me into the room, I felt my vision start to get fuzzy. I didn't even bother to mention it to anyone before all the feeling in my body seemed to fade away and I blacked out completely.


	8. Chapter 8

**Topanga's POV:**

We'd just gotten Riley down to the room where they were going to perform the CAT scan of her head to be sure she hadn't injured her head too badly but things really took a turn for the worse. out of absolutely nowhere, I heard these loud, obnoxious beeping sounds which were coming from the monitors she was connected to. I saw her body convulsing violently. Her eyes had rolled to the very back of her head. Several doctors quickly moved straight into action upon hearing the beeping, one of them then shoved me out of the way so that they could get to her.

"Quick, she's seizing!" I heard a voice announce, even throughout all the beeping.

I knew what those words meant and I wasn't even working in the medical field. My heart, however, instantly dropped. Her life was actually crashing down before my very eyes. "O-Oh God.." I whimpered to myself. As a parent, you most definitely did not want to see your child die before you did. Especially in a way like this.

I saw all the great doctors in the room making several attempts to revive my daughter. They performed CPR and such for a good couple of minutes before she was finally revived.

I breathed a sigh of relief once I heard her monitors slow down to a steady beat. I then was able to get another good look at her. She was extremely pale and weak-looking. Even if they were to perform surgery on her, I didn't think she'd make it through. If I didn't know any better I would've thought she was just giving up completely. But Riley, no. She was never one to give up on anything at all. She was so persistent when trying to get Maya's own mother to come to the art show. It didn't exactly work, but she never gave up on it. Anyways, yeah. Riley was connected to a ventilator now. It was breathing for her since, clearly, she was not able to do it on her own at the moment. She had her eyes open though. That was a very good sign though, I think.

I walked over to the head of her bed and caressed her bloodstained brunette locks. She looked over at me, tears flowing from her eyes. It was so very obvious that she was scared out of her mind.

I frowned at the sight and continued to caress her hair. "Shh.. I-It's gonna be okay, baby. P-P-Please don't c-cry, okay..?" I said, my voice getting extremely shaky at that point in time.

She continued to look at me, the tears continuing to flow. I guess I wasn't doing too good of a job at trying to calm her down with my motherly instincts. I didn't really know what to do since I'd never experienced anything this intense in my entire life. I soon decided to just hold her hand until a doctor walked over to us.

"Alright, quick change of plans." He announced to the two of us. "Instead of a CAT scan of just her head, we're just going to go ahead and get one of her entire body. That way, we'll be sure not to miss anything else too major before getting her into surgery."

I smiled gently. I was glad they were taking extra measures to make sure my baby girl was well taken care of. "O-Okay..thank you Dr-u-um.." I completely spaced out. It had come to my attention that he never formally introduced himself. Also, I couldn't exactly see his name tag.

"Dr. Harris.. My name's Dr. Harris. Sorry for not mentioning that earlier." He smiled a gentle smile, his head turned towards mine.

"It's fine, really." I said, hopefully reassuring him about the occurrence. "So, is she gonna be getting it done now or..?"

"Yeah, the machine should be pretty much ready for her now." Dr. Harris nodded in response to my question. He then walked over to Riley's bedside.

He kneeled down to her level, looking at her face. "Alright, honey. We're gonna get you transferred over to the machine over there. It'll probably hurt getting you in there, but the test, itself, will not. Blink for me if you understand, okay?"

She blinked once, acknowledging all of what he had told her.

Dr. Harris then strolled the bed up close to the machine and came to a stop. I, of course, came over with the two of them. I didn't want Riley to think I'd just abandon her during this whole thing. I was her mother and I did promise her earlier in the year that I'd be there for her no matter what. This was definitely no exception, not a doubt in my mind. I blinked for a split second and then turned my attention towards Dr. Harris. "S-So, need help transferring her?"

"Yeah, your help would be greatly appreciated." Dr. Harris admitted. Then the two of us, together, transferred Riley over to the machine so that the scan could be performed.

I stood right beside her the entire time. I made sure that she knew I was there every couple of minutes or so until the scan had finally ended. Then after getting her transferred back into her bed, we were both escorted back to the trauma room to anxiously await the results of the scan.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hey, I'm so sorry for the long wait. I decided to do some renovations on a few of the older chapters if you'd like to check those out. I also switched around the chapters a bit to help the story flow a bit better. Anyways, I hope the wait was worth it.**

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><p>Chapter 9:<p>

Maya's POV

I'd opened up my eyes and I noticed that I happened to be in some random room. I guess I must've passed out at some point while on the way to the hospital. I decided to look around the room and it was just a plain ol' hospital room. I could see an IV to the left of me. It looked to be pumping medicine or something into my bloodstream. There was some sort of remote down by my side. It had two main buttons on it. One was to control the tv that was directly in front of me and the other was a red button designed to call the nurse just in case I needed something. I decided to press the latter button in hopes of reaching one of the nurses. I had to know if Riley was okay and what kind of injuries I currently possessed. Luckily, one of the nurses had heard my call and replied in a moment's notice. "Hang on, a nurse will be right with you, okay?"

"O-Okay." My voice sounded pathetic and shaky. I didn't really know why, though, exactly. I guess maybe my injuries were more extensive than I had come to imagine.

I heard a knock on the door and pretty much two seconds later, a middle-aged nurse entered the room. Why do doctors and nurses even bother to knock if they're just going to come in anyways..? That doesn't give you enough time to like cover up or whatever if you're not completely decent. Not that it would matter, really, but yeah. The nurse approached the head of my bed and looked directly at me. "Whatcha need, honey?" She asked me in a well-mannered tone. I was so relieved that she wasn't the rude type of nurse.

"A-Am I hurt all that bad..?" I looked up at her, asking the question with great curiosity.

"Well, surprisingly, you're not hurt _too too_ bad. You do have some injuries, though, I'm afraid. You seem to have quite a few burns on your arms, legs and face. You also have a break or two in your left femur. Also, we think you might've inhaled a little too much smoke. That's just about it. I'd try not to talk much. Your throat might be just a bit irritated from the smoke."

I breathed a sigh of relief. My injuries didn't really seem all that bad. I'd more than likely be back up and walking on my own in just a couple of weeks. "Hallelujah.." I muttered to myself. Afterwards, I paused for a brief moment. "W-Wait.. What about Riley..? She's gonna be okay, r-right..?" My voice cracked again. Just thinking about the condition that Riley was in when I last saw her was incredibly painful.

"Wait, who?" The nurse asked me. She didn't know who Riley was apparently and that kinda ticked me off.

"Riley. My b-best friend in the whole world. She...was h-hurt in the accident. I want to know if she's alright." I paused again and tried to work up some more courage. "Let me rephrase that. I-I _need _to know if she's alright..please."

The nurse instantly sighed. I guessed it was either bad news or that she didn't really know what her current condition was. "I'm very sorry, honey, but I don't know. I guess I can try checking for you. I may not receive any word for hours, though."

"Y-Yeah, please do." I nodded my head quickly, speaking in as stern of a voice as I possibly could. "I want to know as _soon _as possible."

"Okay, don't you worry. I'll be back as _soon _as I hear something." The nurse smiled politely at me. She made sure that I knew that she would, indeed, be back. "Be sure to press the nurse's button again if you need anything else."

"Got it." I gave her a thumbs-up in approval as she left the room. I then drifted off to sleep since I was bored and in quite a bit of pain.

Lucas's POV:

After about one to two hours of waiting around anxiously, we saw the same receptionist, who we had seen earlier, approach both me and Farkle. She looked directly at me and began to speak. "Alright, I think I've got some news for one of the two people you'd been waiting here for. One of them was 'Maya Hart', right?"

"Yeah." I nodded firmly in response to her question. "That's one of them. She okay?"

"For the most part, she's doing pretty okay." The receptionist stated. Farkle and I breathed a quick sigh of relief. At least she was doing alright. "She's got a couple of alarming burns that the doctors would like to keep watch over for at least a day or two. She's also got a broken bone in her leg."

"Ah, okay.. Would we be able to go up and see her by chance?" I asked her, curiously. I knew that Maya would probably enjoy our company. "And, is there any news about Riley..?"

"I don't see why not. She's on the fifth floor, room 523." The receptionist shrugged both of her shoulders in response to the first question I asked. "And, no. I've not received any word about her yet. If there's news whenever you return from visiting your other friend, I'll be sure to let you know."

"Mhm. Thank you so much, ma'am." I smiled gently towards her.

I then looked to Farkle and stood up. "Let's get going, buddy. I'm sure Maya wants someone to visit with her."

"Eh, alright." Farkle uttered somewhat quietly. He lifted himself up from his seat and was soon standing by my side.

We then headed straight for the elevators. I pressed the button which had an arrow pointing up. This meant that it was the button that would allow to go up a floor or more. It was just common knowledge, y'know.

Farkle and I heard a familiar ding within the matter of a minute or two. This is when we knew that an elevator had come. We both decided to enter the elevator before it would've ended up coming to a close. Upon entering, I quickly examined the great wall of buttons. Soon enough, I found a button labeled with the number '5'. I pressed the button and the elevator began to ascend up just a couple of floors. After the length of about ninety or so seconds, the doors of the elevator slid open. We then exited the elevator and walked over to the left a couple of feet. We reached a pair of doors which I then opened, using the touch sensor that was right ahead of it. Both the doors flew open and we walked ahead. I saw the huge nurses' station as we were walking. There had to of been at least a dozen nurses, or so, sitting behind the counter-desk sorta thing.

Anyways, we walked until reaching the room which was labeled as '523'. Maya's name was written directly underneath the number so we knew we'd reached the right room. The door was slightly ajar so we decided to just enter the room. We both could see Maya lying there, asleep, in the bed at the end of the room. We could see that her face was pretty badly burned and that she had quite a few cuts and bruises along her arms. We couldn't really see her legs or feet since she was covered in a nice, soft blanket. We also came to notice two chairs conveniently placed on both sides of the bed. I sat down in one of the chairs while Farkle sat in the other. Farkle and I both knew it'd be rude to wake her up, especially after such a traumatic incident, so we just decided to just wait for her to wake up.

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><p><strong>AN 2: Yet again, I'm so sorry for the long wait! Be sure to leave me a review on your way out!**

**-diceyAscension**


	10. Chapter 10

**Maya's POV:**

After taking a shortish nap, I was awoken by the sensation of like two people taking ahold of both my hands. I opened up my eyes, turning to both the left and right sides of my bed and, to my surprise, I happened to see two familiar faces. It was Farkle and Lucas, the latter which I often referred to as Ranger Rick or Bucky McBoing-Boing or something along those lines. I was rather confused, really. I was pretty sure I didn't sleep for several hours upon end. "H-Huh..? What time is it..?" I asked kinda quietly, curiosity overtaking my mind. I shifted around in the bed for a second or two after realizing I really wasn't all that comfy.

"Wait, you're awake?" Lucas, the cowboy, asked me. He jumped up from his seat slightly. Guess he didn't realize I had woken up from my slumber.

"Y-Yeah, of course I'm awake." I gave him a look that pretty much told him 'Are you kidding me?!'. "Why else would I be talking?! Now, just tell me what the time is, would ya..?"

"Yeah, sorry." He sighed depressingly. However, he quickly just shrugged it off. "You just didn't really seem awake when we came in. And, I dunno. I think it's somewhere between 10 and 11."

"Yeah.. I wasn't awake, ya ding dong." I rolled my eyes sarcastically. I then paused momentarily, taking in the rest of what he said. "And, oh, why aren't you guys in school..?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Lucas sighed yet again. He seemed to be looking at my battered appearance. "The whole class heard what happened to you and Riley. Farkle and I felt so bad so we decided to skip the rest of the day. I mean, friends gotta stick together, even through thick and thin. Aren't I right?

"Yeah." I nodded my head firmly. He was right. Friends really _do _need to stick together. "Thanks, guys...Now could you let go of my hands? I appreciate it, really, but I'm okay."

"You sure?" Lucas asked. His voice seemed to relax me somewhat. Normally, he annoyed me but today it was different. I guess maybe it was because I was so vulnerable and weak.

"Yeah, I'm okay." I told him and myself. But, the truth is, I wasn't okay. I may have felt somewhat okay in a physical sense but, in an emotional sense, I just felt like crying again. The girl I'd been friends with my entire life could've been dying, or could've already died, for all I knew. I had to stay strong though. It would do me no good to break down in front of my two other closest friends. They probably would have just pitied me and that was something that I definitely didn't want.

"Okay, as long as you're alright." Lucas smiled weakly and let go of my hand. I decided to smile in return.

I looked over to my left and came to notice that Farkle didn't seem to want to let go of me. I looked directly over at him and glared. Although, I did wonder why he hadn't been talking this entire time. "Farkle, let go." I stated in a firm tone of voice.

Sadness took over both of the little guy's eyes and he loosened his grip by just a little bit. "But, you're hurt. Don't you want someone here to comfort you..?"

I blinked for a moment. "Well, yeah, sure. I'll be happy if the two of you just sit here with me. I-I just hope Riles'll be okay."

"I think we all do, Maya." Farkle announced, releasing my hand, much to my pleasure. "We just gotta give it time. I'm I'm sure we'll get some news here in just a few."

"Yeah, I sure hope so." I frowned, taking one last look at my current surroundings before eventually drifting back to sleep.

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><p><strong>AN: This chapter was really short...Oops. I think it was done pretty well though, so that's what really matters. And before anyone comments about this, I did not forget about Riley. I'll be returning to that storyline next chapter, I think. I just figured there needed to be a little change of pace for just a few chapters. Anyways, please leave me a review on your way out.**


	11. Chapter 11

Riley's POV:

It'd been like about ten to fifteen minutes since mom and I were ushered back to the trauma room where I'd first been taking. There was this giant tube literally shoved down into my throat. I wanted to take it out so bad but I was smart. I knew it was breathing for me. I knew that I would probably end up almost dying again if I did take it out. Besides, I think several of my bones were broken. It would be legitimately be impossible for me to even move my arm to take it out. I tried to turn my head towards my mom but I failed. My neck was still completely immobilized.

I made an attempt to reach a hand out to her and, just like the last action I attempted, it was a complete failure….Well, maybe not a _complete _failure but it was pretty darn close to it. I could only move my pinky. I guess my attempt worked pretty well, considering the circumstance. It caught the attention of my mom. At the time, she was just sitting there, waiting there somewhat patiently. But, when she noticed me trying to reach for her, she instantly grabbed ahold of my hand. This put me at ease, slightly. She looked directly at me and frowned. "I-It's okay, honey.. You're gonna be okay." She said, trying to offer me some comfort.

However, I didn't believe the words she said. I didn't believe that I was going to be okay. I just blinked since I didn't have a clue of what to do. I couldn't move and I couldn't talk. I couldn't even breathe on my own! I was just completely worthless. It wouldn't have mattered if I lived or died at this point. I guess the whole situation was in God's hand. Whether I had anything left to do while on earth or not, it was his decision. I was fine with whatever way things were going to go. I mean, I was a Christian. I believed in God and Jesus and I knew that I was going to end up going to heaven.

Anyway, mom continued to gently hold my hand. I tried to fall asleep as we continued to wait for the doctor to come in with any sort of news. Although I tried for several minutes, I just couldn't seem to fall asleep. The pain was just so intense and I wasn't given any pain medicine whatsoever. I wanted to tell mom about all the pain I was in, but guess what? I couldn't talk! I was so frustrated over the fact that I had absolutely no way to communicate with anybody. Tears began flowing from my eyes yet again. It wasn't really all that noticeable though because you couldn't really hear me crying. Mom must've noticed 'cause she squeezed my hand just a bit tighter. It was clear she was trying her best not to cause me any other pain. She continued to sooth me until there was a knock on the door just a couple of minutes later.

A man opened the door within a second or two. He walked over to my bedside and got down on his knees. "Hey, honey. You're in quite a lot of pain, huh..?"

I blinked just one time. He should've known I had a tube in my throat that was breathing for me and that I couldn't speak.

"Oh, right.. You can't really talk. I guess that could be considered as a rhetorical question, anyway." The man instantly shrugged it off and took out a stethoscope. "Lemme listen to your heart and lungs and we can see about getting that ventilator taken out. Well, at least for now." He then rolled down the blanket which was covering me up from my shoulders to my toes. He rolled it down until most of my chest was uncovered. Afterwards, he placed the circular part of the stethoscope down onto my chest and began listening to my heart and lungs. For about a minute or two, he moved the stethoscope all around on my chest. Then he gently lifted it off of me and covered me back up, sighing sadly afterward. "I'm sorry, honey. It doesn't seem like you'll be able to get that tube out yet. Your lungs seem quite damaged and I don't think they'd be able to handle the task of breathing on their own. I've gotta go talk with your mom about some things."

For like the tenth time that day, all that I could do was blink. I didn't see why he couldn't say what he had to say to both me and mom. I was a big girl. I'm pretty sure that I'd be able to handle whatever he had to say.

"Alright, Mrs. Matthews, if you'd come with me I'd like to tell you what all's going on with your daughter. I've got the results of the full body scan. It doesn't look good." The man looked over at mom with a frown. I sure wish I knew his name though so I didn't have to refer to him as 'the man'.

"Mhm." Mom nodded her head, looking over at him. She then turned towards me and gave me a nice, gentle hug. "Be right back, honey. I-I love you."

I weakly mouthed the words 'Love you too.' in response. I knew that she likely didn't understand what I was trying to say but whatever.

She left the room with the man and I frowned. I didn't want her to go. I wanted her to stay and comfort me. I just wanted someone there to tell me that everything was going to be okay. But everything wasn't going to be okay. I could just tell by the looks of the man, who was probably the doctor who was on my case, and my mom.

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><p><strong>AN: Alright, that's just about it for this chapter. Feel free to leave me a review on your way out!**

**-diceyAscension**


	12. Chapter 12

**Topanga's POV:**

"Alright, Mrs. Matthews, if you'd come with me I'd like to tell you what all's going on with your daughter. I've got the results of the full body scan. It doesn't look good." Dr. Harris solemnly announced to me. He said it so loud and clear that I can almost bet ya that Riley was able to hear.

"Mhm." I simply muttered to myself, looking over at him. I then bent down towards Riley and hugged her as gently as humanly possible. "Be right back, honey. I-I love you."

She tried to say something in return but it was impossible to hear, due to the ventilator.

I looked back at her for a split second before leaving the room with Dr. Harris.

"Okay, so, um, what all's going on with her?" I asked, my voice instantly filling with dread. I didn't really want to ask the question but I didn't really have too much of a choice. I just had to know what all was going on with her.

"Well..." Dr. Harris sighed. I could tell he was feeling pretty reluctant about saying what he had to tell me. "There's a lot of things, actually. First off, her skull had gotten quite a few fractures somehow. There could be some bleeding in her brain but we won't be able to tell unless we go in and operate. She's got all kinds of broken bones in her spine, along with broken ribs, a broken pelvis, and all four of her limbs seem to have broken bones. It's quite possible several of her internal organs have been damaged also. She _will _need immediate surgery if you even want her to even have a _chance _at survival."

Yikes. I, for some odd reason, wasn't expecting her injuries to be that bad. It hit me like the subway train that hit her...hard. I felt like I was going to bawl but I didn't. I couldn't, actually. I needed to stay strong just in case I went back in to see Riley. "O-Okay.." I simply responded, unable to say much else. "Think I could talk things over with my husband real quick?"

He nodded his head and smiled in response. "Yeah, you go right ahead and do that, ma'am."

I breathed out a sigh of relief in a moment's time. I was so glad that he would be allowing me to call up Cory real quick. "Thank you so much. I-I'll be back in just a few minutes. She'll be okay until then, right?"

"Yup, she should be okay for a little bit, but we really need to get her in the operating room within the next hour. We'll be keeping watch to make sure she remains completely stable." Dr. Harris nodded with reassurance.

"A-Again, thank you." I smiled weakly, looking over at the extremely kind man, who'd been one of the main ones to take care of my daughter, before walking away.

I then pulled out my cell phone and frantically looked through my 'contacts' list. I came across the name 'Cory' and pressed the 'dial' button. The ringing went on for about twenty to twenty-five seconds before I finally got an answer.

"Honey?" Cory asked. "Were ya able to get off work?"

"Uh huh." I laughed nervously. I couldn't tell him that I quit my job, especially in a time like this. "You could say that."

He hesitated for a minute. I shouldn't have laughed like that. He was most definitely getting suspicious. "What d'ya mean?" He asked in a nervous, yet condescending voice.

"U-Uh.. Well, I am out of work." I told him truthfully. I was indeed out of work... permanently.

"Well, alright." He fell for it. He actually fell for it. "Any news about Riley or Maya?"

"Yeah, for Riley, at least. I've been with her for God knows how long. I-It's not good, Cory. We could lose her." I sighed, looking all around.

I could hear him gasp in a surprised manner. "W-What do ya mean we could lose her?! We can't lose her! S-She's my little girl!"

"I know, honey, I know.. She's gotta go in for surgery here in a few." I paused for just a couple of seconds, a question popping into my mind. "Will you be able to come to the hospital before that? I mean, if you're even able to get off before the end of the day."

"Yeah." He replied in a gentle voice. "I'll be able to come after this period which ends in like five minutes. The principal luckily found me a substitute."

"Praise the Lord." I smiled widely. I could almost feel butterflies in my stomach. I was so excited. "So, you'll be down in, say, twenty minutes?"

"Uh huh." I swear to God I could hear him nod or something. "Maybe sooner. I'm gonna try getting here as soon as possible."

"Now Cory," I rolled my eyes. "You know not to speed. Emergency or not, it could get you in tons of trouble with the law."

"Alright.. I promise I won't speed, honey." I betcha he frowned. "See ya in just a bit. Love ya."

"Love ya too." I said, hanging up the phone afterwards. I then stashed it away into my pocket and went back into the trauma room to visit with Riley and to wait for Cory to arrive.


	13. Chapter 13

**Cory's POV:**

I sighed after speaking with Topanga. My little girl could be dying thanks to that stupid subway. I knew it was a bad idea to let her ride it 'cause now she's hurt bad. I should have had her ride with me to work this morning but, no, I didn't.

I instead had her go with Maya, as per usual. I feel like such a failure of a parent 'cause this could've been prevented. I should have kept her away from the subway just a few years longer. But, nope, the girl's almost thirteen now. I had to let her start growing up sometime and start making the world her own. This school year was that time.

Anyway, after I hung up the phone, I walked back into the classroom and was surprised to see the students actually doing their work. That put a slight smile on my face. They actually listened to me for once.

I went in and sat down in the seat behind my desk. The class period was almost over so I felt very relieved. I looked up at the clock and there was only about two minutes left.

After like thirty seconds of that time was through, I decided to go and stand up in front of the class. There was stuff I had to tell 'em. "Alright, guys. Class is almost done and I've got a few things I gotta tell ya. You'll be getting a substitute teacher for quite awhile." I paused for a couple of seconds, only to hear the annoyed groans of several students. "There's a family emergency and I've gotta take time off. I'm not sure when I'll be back but please be on your best behavior for the substitute teachers. Be sure to finish your assignment for tomorrow also, alright?"

I then heard the bell ring and all the students instantly began packing up all their things. "See ya guys soon. Bye." I announced somewhat quietly.

I then waited for the substitute teacher to come in before I could leave. I quickly told her all the things she needed to know for each and every class. After that, I walked out of my classroom and headed out of the school.

I quickly located my car and unlocked it. I got in it and sped directly towards the hospital. I got there probably within like ten to fifteen minutes. I parked my car in the hospital's parking garage and rushed into the hospital.

Then I took out my cell phone and quickly called up Topanga. The phone rang for quite a few seconds before she finally picked up.

"H-Hello?" She asked, her gorgeous voice cracking just a little bit. She was definitely upset and so was I but I had to try my hardest to stay strong for her and for the kids. After all, I was the man of the house.

"Topanga?" I asked in a firm, yet comforting voice. "Where are ya guys at? I've got _no _idea where I'm supposed to be heading. They didn't take Riley into surgery or whatever yet, right?"

"No, honey." She told me and I felt slightly at ease. At least I was gonna be able to see her before she had to be brought in to surgery. "She's not in surgery quite yet. Come on up to the first floor and I'll meet ya out in the waiting room."

"Alright, thanks, Topanga." I smiled gently, already heading for the elevator that was conveniently located inside of the parking garage. "See ya in just a couple of minutes, alright? Love you."

"Love you too, Cor."

I then hung up my cell phone and put it back into my pocket. Afterwards, I had reached the elevator and pressed the button with the arrow that faced upward. Pretty much anybody knew that pressing that button would bring you up a floor or more.

Anyways, after like a minute or so, I heard a familiar dinging sound and the opening of elevator doors. I walked over to the elevator that had opened up and went inside of it. I then turned to the wall that had a wide variety of buttons that would either take you up some floors or take you down some floors. I found the button, which was labeled with the number '1', in almost an instant and so I pressed it.

The elevator ascended up into the air for just a couple of seconds before coming to a stop. I heard the ding yet again and the doors of the elevator flew open. I walked outta there as fast as I could and headed straight for the waiting room. I got there within just a minute or so after that and Topanga was already standing there, waiting for my arrival.

She seemed to be upset, even more upset than I was and that really meant something. I was internally freaking out, after all.

Anyway, I got right up close to her and came to notice just a couple of things. First off, I could that her eyes were red from crying. Also, she seemed to be pretty flushed.

I let out a deep, depressed sigh and gave her a tight hug. She hugged me back and rested her head on my shoulder. "H-How bad is she?"

"Pretty bad." Topanga sighed and lifted her head off of my shoulder. "Like I said before, I-I..I dunno if she's going to make it, Cory. She can't even breathe on her own right now."

My eyes widened quite a bit and I unintentionally let out a small gasp. I had to remain calm, though. I couldn't let Topanga see me in another one of my freak-outs during a time like this. I had to be there to comfort her and to try and reassure her that everything was going to be okay.

But, I, myself, wasn't even sure if everything was going to be okay. After all, I hadn't even been in to see Riley yet. "Man, h-how could this even happen?!" I exclaimed in frustration. "I-I thought the subway was supposed to be _safe_!"

Topanga sighed and released herself from our hug. She then looked me right in the eyes. "Cory, believe me. The subway is _supposed _to be safe, but, accidents do happen. I'm just as upset as you are, but please don't make a huge scene in the middle of the hospital, okay?"

"Yeah, okay.." I nodded my head. I decided that it would be best to listen to her and _not _have one of my big freak-outs.

"Now, c'mon." Topanga continued. "We gotta get to the room. Riley's probably wondering why I've been gone for so long. Besides, we don't want to have them take her off to surgery without us saying goodbye and such."

"Yeah, you're right." I forced a smile upon my face and headed with her to the room where Riley was being held.

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><p><strong>AN: Hey guys, I am so sorry for the month-long gap between chapters. I got writer's block right in the middle of this chapter and finally figured out a way to finish it. I'll try my hardest to update again ASAP.**

**But, you'll be seeing a couple more stories from me. I got a few requests for my one-shot story that I'm unable to fit into the one-shot format so I'm turning them into their own stories.**

**So, anyway, feel free to leave me a review on your way out.**

**-diceyAscension**


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